


Forgiveness

by chronicAngel



Series: Leaves in the Summer [33]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, Crying, Drabble, F/M, Light Angst, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 07:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: "I forgive you," she says, and he's sure there are tears welling up in his eyes. "I forgave you a long time ago. That night, I couldn't even be angry. I couldn't even be heartbroken. I was just... sad. For you, I think. At least I got the life with you I had always wanted, I thought. At least I didn't have tolivewith that, I thought."





	Forgiveness

_"Sasuke... This is it."_

* * *

Everything fades to black, and then, more slowly, to piercing white and green. He imagines it's the sort of thing that would have given him a headache in life, but he knows with startling clarity that he's not going to get that same throbbing in his temples here. Perhaps, he thinks, it is the way that his vision is so clear here. He can see everything, from the shimmering effect of the very air around him like a mirage at the edge of one's fingertips in Suna to the dark figure approaching him in the distance. It's not the sort of thing he would have been able to pick up in life. He suspects, for a moment, that it's his mother.

When she stops in front of him, his heart almost stops. (Figuratively, of course.) "Izumi..." He breathes, and his knees feel weak. She smiles, eyes closing and head tilting just slightly. She looks almost exactly like she did the last time he saw her, though there's a hint of maturity there that he cannot recall (he wonders if you still age in the afterlife, or if you just appear the way you wish to). _Beautiful_ , he thinks, still fighting to breathe. The purple and white kimono she wears is elegant enough that he wouldn't be surprised to see it on a Hokage's wife in an old painting, and though she's never been one for make-up, her skin still perfectly free of it here, he could swear her skin almost glows. He feels dirty to be standing across from her in his Akatsuki robes. "Why are you... _How_ are you..." He starts, and then just furrows his brow, pulling away to look at her. "I shouldn't be here."

"Don't be ridiculous," she half-laughs and half-scolds, still holding his arms so he can't turn away from her. He can't even bring himself to respond, staring at his feet. There is no blood there, no calluses from years of traveling just to escape the guilt that would hang over him in Konoha. She puts a hand under his chin to tilt his head up so he looks at her and stares him straight in the eyes. "Why wouldn't you belong here? With me?"

"I _killed_ you," he says immediately, horrified with himself for saying it and with her for seemingly forgiving it.

If she is still upset about any of it, she gives no indication of it, instead giving him a smile that is only a little sad. "You did."

He has never understood her. In all their lives, he has never thought he understood her, the only riddle he has never been able to even begin solving. He wonders how much time he will have to start, now.

"I forgive you," she says, and he's sure there are tears welling up in his eyes. "I forgave you a long time ago. That night, I couldn't even be angry. I couldn't even be heartbroken. I was just... sad. For you, I think. At least I got the life with you I had always wanted, I thought. At least I didn't have to _live_ with that, I thought." He feels another stab of guilt and she must notice because her hands slide to his cheeks and she smiles at him. "I forgive you, Itachi," she whispers again.

He doesn't notice that she's leaning in to kiss him until their lips meet, and he puts his hands on her sides because he's not sure where else to put them. Kissing Izumi is the same as it has always been, but every kiss has spread a different feeling of warmth in him as though there were something unique in each one. He didn't notice how much he had missed it until it was happening again. He feels that in the time they hold it he could memorize all of the features of her face once more; could ingrain the feeling of her lips slotting into his and her cheeks under his palms deep into his mind and never let go of it. He hates that he had, later in his life. When she pulls away, she stares at him with so, so much love. "Come on," she whispers, and he feels the words like feathers against his skin. "Shisui is waiting for us."

**Author's Note:**

> I picture the afterlife in Naruto looking a lot like the scene where Naruto meets Minato, even though I know that's not really what that is.


End file.
